Adrian Heath (1920–1992) was a 20th-century British painter. Heath was born in Burma and attended Bryanston School in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, southern England. In 1938, he studied art under

Stanhope Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.Newlyn Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount ...

. In 1939 and 1945–47, he attended the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. He served in the RAF as a tail gunner in Lancaster bombers in World War II, but spent almost the entire war as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Stalag 383 Stalag 383 was a German World War II Prisoner of War camp located in Hohenfels, Bavaria. History The German Army founded a training area near Hohenfels, Bavaria in 1938. A troop camp for trainees, located in a high valley surrounded by dense wood ...

. During this period he became friends with and taught fellow POW

Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...

to paint. In 1949 and 1951, he visited

St Ives, Cornwall St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning "Ia of Cornwall, St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commerci ...

, where he met Ben Nicholson. In the early 1950s, he was also associated with Victor Pasmore and Anthony Hill. As such he became the main link between the emerging St Ives School and British

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...

. He was also influenced by D'Arcy Thompson. In 1953 Heath published 'Abstract Painting: its Origins and Meaning' a slim but perceptive volume appraising the development of abstraction by the early moderns. He exhibited at the Musée Carcassonne in 1948, and at the

Redfern Gallery The Redfern Gallery is an exhibition space in the West End of London specialising in contemporary British art. It was founded by Arthur Knyvett-Lee and Anthony Maxtone Graham in 1923 as an artists' cooperative on the top floor of Redfern Hous ...

, London, from 1953, together with other galleries in London. His work is in the collections of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and the Hirshhorn Museum,

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Heath taught at Bath Academy of Art (1955–76) and the University of Reading (1980–85). He was

artist in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

in 1969 and a senior fellow at the Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, Wales (1977–80). Heath was a member of

56 Group Wales The 56 Group Wales ( cy, Grŵp 56 Cymru) is an artists' organisation founded in Wales in 1956, with the aim of promoting Welsh Modernist art and artists. The name was originally simply the 56 Group: "Wales" was added in 1967, in response to a fe ...

from 1978 to 1982. Adrian Heath painted abstract and semi-abstract pictures in oils and acrylic paints. He was also a

collagist Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

and constructivist. Adrian and his wife Corinne were also campaigners to preserve the character and heritage of Fitzrovia where they lived for many years. Adrian and Corinne were founder members of the campaign group The Charlotte Street Association who fight to increase social housing and preserve the character the area around Charlotte Street and in Fitzrovia.Charlotte Street Association – ‘Our forty years of invisible victories’, by Jamie Welham, Camden New Journal, 11 November 2010
, accessed 26 November 2010

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Adrian 1920 births 1992 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters People educated at Bryanston School Academics of the University of Reading Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British World War II prisoners of war People educated at Port Regis School Members of the 56 Group Wales Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British people in British Burma 20th-century English male artists